In this article, Altenar, a sportsbook software provider, will be looking into the growing space of women in sports betting and technology as the world witnesses increased numbers of women in STEM education, roles in a breadth of industries and an increased inclusion of women in managerial roles.
Speaking with Altenar’s Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance and Head of Service Management In Technology Operations, it became clear the importance of destigmatized environments that promote the skills of an individual regardless of gender, why the role of ‘invitation’ or being ‘invited’ can be the first steps in bridging inclusivity gaps in education and working life, as well as the ins and outs of what it means to be a woman in sports betting and technology.
Two women whose work speaks for itself, demonstrate the challenges, achievements, and brick walls they’ve run up against throughout their journey and this article was created to promote that no-wall-is-too-high in the path to achieving your goals and being able to work inside of your passions with a company (Altenar) that supports individual talent and determination.
Why do you think it’s important to have both men & women be a part of the betting/tech industry?
“The importance of women and men in this industry is to create diversity and different ideas to promote growth. Studies have shown that diverse teams perform better and make better business decisions and women tend to focus on building good working relationships.” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“How I see it in the modern world, I don’t think it should even be discussed, that women in betting - women in technology rhetoric as it is a natural thing and it should be based on the skills of an individual.” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“The subject of diversity and inclusion can be said in relation to any area, though i see in this industry (betting) a very positive balance between women and men and it’s a very good sign because I think it will help everyone achieve better and attain a higher quality of product and services for our end users and customers.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
“Mainly, this great proportion of genders will aid a diversity that a one gender point of view couldn’t.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
How much has the industry changed since you began in this field?
“Fr om a tech perspective I think that the number of women in the industry is increasing as well as the opportunities for women - such as, initiatives fr om the government (Malta) for free child care to help women in the industry to participate more heavily and collaborate with their peers.” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“I’ve been with Altenar almost seven years and I see a tendency that some leadership roles are inclined to be taken or assigned to women and not just for the sake of diversity but for the productiveness/skill/passion of an individual being able to succeed in this role and I believe we (Altenar) are free of stigma on this point for there is no fear around this decision, as it should be across the board.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
Would you offer your younger self any advice on this industry?
“Being strong and ignoring any negative comments, urm, I can give an example of this: It was my first year in Engineering, and someone in my course had told me that ‘girls are not good for Maths and you should do something else’, you know, something in line with this sentiment and of course, I didn’t listen”. ” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“I wish I could be free fr om stigmas myself, I, a few years ago held these within myself and what I mean by this is sometimes we’re not confident enough to take up the challenge that we face to be able to fulfil things that allow us to take more responsibility - I had stigmas that I could be super emotional - which is crazy it’s something human not innately female- and I wish I could tell my younger self not to be stigmatised / stereotyped by such things.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
Do you think enough is being done to encourage women into the professional betting landscape?
“More opportunities are arising and at Altenar we support women similar to men without discrimination which can help the encouragement of anyone wanting to enter the space.” -Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“There is a tendency that ads are male oriented - that whatever ad you see on betting seems to be directed towards men and I wish it could be more women friendly, as there's little, if any, invitation for women to bet more - it should be neutral.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
What sparked your interest in working in this industry/your chosen field of study?
“I always liked technology, I remember when I was young dismantling toys and exploring which led to my choice of the engineering field. I started my work experience in payments but the gaming industry was always something I wanted to explore because it’s modern, fast-growing and regulated as well and a challenge is something I’m always up for.” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“I always knew some information about this area, from the perspective of an end user and actually playing - I was always interested in how this all gets organised in the back office, for instance how is it all monitored and managed, who is managing the content, and what’s the tech behind that and who is getting the end user to bet and on which principles. It’s a never ending chain of questions in my head and it brought me to Altenar. Then the universe gave me this opportunity to view from this angle.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
How do you think women can help bring more awareness of this sector to other women who may be interested or passionate about the industry?
“Participation workshops and conferences would be important and supporting colleagues at their place of work whenever they face issues.”- Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“Women have huge empathy to anyone and strong patience when we speak to colleagues, and as a result, we might impact the process of knowledge sharing - it’s always easy for us to share the knowledge, to structure it, to give it a nice place in the knowledge base of the company and to get this message through to the intended audience - our point of strength is to make knowledge shareable and make appropriate circulation channels.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
How has the increase in women in STEM education improved since your time in education? Will we see greater quantities of women in this space in the future?
“From when I graduated in 2006, women in engineering have been increasing all the time, and we’ve seen many leaders in big companies, as CEOs, and women leading these large companies is inspiring. I believe women can be as successful as men, and the more awareness and focus groups created the more young girls and any women interested will be encouraged to join STEM courses and education.” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“That was a brilliant answer, I don't have anything to add.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
You mentioned wage inequalities - how do you think this affects a woman’s drive to enter a workforce/industry/education stream when it appears through external media that goals, dreams and aims might not be achievable?
“You see a lot of articles about gender inequalities but I believe this is changing over time and I get to experience this at Altenar which creates a positive working environment.” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“An inclusion policy, that’s everywhere now, should be reducing this inequality and inconsistencies and it’s something not fast, but we should be gradually there.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
Recently, the UK actioned that for events like ICE companies are no longer allowed to use them as sexualised advertising - what are your opinions on this?
“I think more work needs to be done in this area wh ere women are displaying themselves wearing provocative clothing for promotion purposes, it’s quite strange actually - why is it necessary? Do we want to give the impression that betting is for men? ” - Head of Information Security and Technical Compliance
“The answer is not easy to find, it’s relative I believe, because if we go into extremes trying to get the samples of gender stereotyped ads I’m sure we’d find many, but I'm not sure what should be done on this, other than trying to avoid these polar-opposite extremes. I know there used to be a lot of ads wh ere only mothers were taking care of children, wh ere men were not included, and the idea to include men in these ads is correct because family consists of numerous genders - it’s not fair to assume only one gender does this or the other.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
“There should be appropriate ads for the topics- the general idea of getting rid of those stereotypes is good, however more research can be done into what the aims are and how we achieve those, like to bring less harm or offence and then move forward accordingly.” - Head of Service Management In Technology Operations
Speaking with successful and educated women in any field can be a breath of empowered fresh air and as the world grows into new spaces, new acceptances and a greater understanding for the need of balance and equal opportunity, many companies can open the doors to unbiased hiring, promotion and overall limitless progression for female employees.
Both participants expressed that Altenar works to promote and support women through their aspirations and passions within the company rhetoric, even expanding these into managerial positions through a host of departments. This removal of stigmatised and stereotypical thinking has helped Altenar grow to its current success and will promote continued growth through the coming years.
